What is a flouting implicature?

A flouting implicature is a conversational implicature based on an addressee's assumption that the speaker is deliberately breaking (flouting) a conversational maxim while still being cooperative.

Discussion

The term flouting implicature is a coinage. The concept of an implicature derived from the flouting of a maxim is an important one in the literature of conversational implicature, but there is not a specific name for it. It would commonly be more appropriate to speak of an implicature derived from the speaker’s flouting of a conversational maxim.

Example (English)

In the following exchange, B flouts the maxim of manner, thereby implying that an open discussion of the ice cream is not desired: